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From February 2nd to 4th, the 25th anniversary International Ice Sculpture Festival will take place in Jelgava, Latvia, at Jānis Čakste Boulevard, Pasta Island, and the open-air concert hall “Mītava.” This year, 32 professional sculptors from 11 countries – Ukraine, Indonesia, Argentina, Latvia, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Estonia, Czech Republic, Mongolia, the United Kingdom, and Spain – will showcase their unique perspectives on global treasures through ice sculpture. The festival will feature the creation of 45 competition sculptures, with a total of over 60 ice objects on display. Ticket sales for the festival have begun at the Jelgava Cultural Center and “Biļešu paradīze.”

Accessibility to information is one of the most important necessities in life, so it is crucial to find a way for all groups of people, including those with visual impairments, to access information. The Jelgava.lv website provides a text reader that reads the published information on the site. This enhances the accessibility of the website and ensures that its content is reflected in two ways – both audibly and visually.

As we’re about to step into the new year of 2024, let’s take a quick look back at what Jelgava experienced in 2023 and what was accomplished – highlighting some of the most noteworthy events in our city.

“During this festive anticipation, we often hear: “Let peace reign on Earth…” However, how often do we ponder that peace on Earth begins with the tranquility within our families, with empathy and respect for our fellow beings right here, in our city. Yes, we are diverse, but fundamentally, each of us is a person capable of creating peace around us. May our home – Jelgava – be a place where everyone feels safe and content. Today, a predictable and stable tomorrow has become the most precious gift that the new year, 2024, can offer us,” emphasizes Andris Rāviņš, Chairman of the Jelgava City Council, underlining that this should be the priority in both the city’s and each Jelgavian’s daily life.

At a solemn ceremony at the French Embassy in Riga, the director of the Jelgava Vocational Secondary School, Edīte Bišere, was awarded the Order of Academic Palms of the French Republic. In recognition of her contribution to international cooperation in the field of education and the promotion of French cultural heritage, the high award was presented to E. Bišere by the French Ambassador to Latvia, Aurélie Royet-Gounin.

At the ceremonial awarding of the “Export and Innovation Award 2023” competition, companies that excelled in exports in the past year and created new and innovative products or services were honored. Among them were Latvijas Piens Ltd. and AKG Thermotechnik Lettland Ltd..

The traveling exhibition “Blackout” by the international artists’ collective NUA opened its doors at the Jelgava Old Town House, marking the beginning of its journey through the world starting from Jelgava. Through drawings, the exhibition urges viewers to contemplate climate change and the energy crisis. Visitors are welcome to explore the exhibition until January 2nd 2024.

Today, at the Zemgale Region Competence Development Center (ZRCDC), in three categories, the Annual Business Awards of the Jelgava city were presented for the fifth time. A total of nine city companies were awarded, recognized highly by customers for their goods and services and nominated for the municipal competition. Additionally, for the first time at the event, participants of Jelgava municipality’s social entrepreneurship idea competition “Impulse” were honored, with awards presented to four companies.

Today, on November 10th, the British Ambassador to Latvia, Paul Brummell, visited Jelgava.

In this informative material, interested parties can get acquainted with facts and figures that provide an insight into the municipality’s budget, population, education, employment, economy, projects, construction, transportation, healthcare, as well as social, cultural, tourism, sports, and sister city-related aspects.

Today, from Duke Jacob Square in Jelgava, an aid cargo, including three jeeps and one cargo microbus, organized by entrepreneurs and associations, set out for Ukraine. For the first time, an aid convoy from Jelgava will head to the front line, spanning from Kharkiv to the Zaporizhia region, crossing a total of nine cities.

“Here, the engineers of the future will definitely grow!” – realizing the opportunities in one of the most modern secondary schools in the country – Jelgava Technology Secondary School – concluded the President of the State, Edgars Rinkēvičs. This was one of the goals – during the reconstruction of the school, to introduce innovative learning solutions and provide the technical infrastructure to allow students to explore IT and engineering by practical means.